Furthermore Ventures

0:00Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market. it. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring those cool products to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real-life founders, their launch strategies, and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf.

0:42And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Glimpse. Glimpse is an AI powered deduction management tool that disputes and recovers invalid deductions, winning brands, thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours back to founders so that they can focus on what really matters most. If you're a brand selling and retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you. Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today I have an industry expert.

1:29She's an investor. She's a health coach. She has an incredible background and career in finance, in fintech, in consulting. She is genuinely someone I look up to, and I am just so impressed with how she builds her portfolio of investments. A few of the brands she's invested in has been on the podcast. So Elena Sparks, she is the founder of Furthermore Ventures, and I'm genuinely so happy you're on the podcast and you said yes to recording this with me today.

2:05Alaina Sparks:I'm so thrilled to be with you, Kelly. Thank you so much for those kind words and right back at you. I appreciate everything that you're doing, especially in elevating women, which is my space. Thank you so much for having me in to share my story. I'm so excited. Of course. Of course. Well, I remember meeting you at an angel investor lunch and learning about the brands that you've been involved in and how you vet. And it just struck me of, oh, I would love to have her on the podcast. So to dive right in, can you give our listeners an insight of what Furthermore Venture is? Because there are so many different ways that someone can think about investors or investing.

2:54And I would love if you could break down a bit more of the nuance just so that the emerging brand founders listening can have a really good sense of your method of investing. Yeah.

3:08Alaina Sparks:Thank you so much for that question. I'd love to. So Furthermore Ventures is an investment firm focused specifically on early stage brands building in the space of health, human health, planetary health, the health of our communities. And through Furthermore, I organize investment opportunities for a growing community of individuals, of angel investors who are interested in backing women founded companies that are frankly building healthier futures, right? They're building better defaults. They're building for healthier outcomes, for more resilient systems. And I know you've had several of my portfolio founders on your show.

4:06Alaina Sparks:We primarily invest in food. That's how things start. I have a very personal story with food. I am obsessed with the healing power of food. Not only food as medicine, but the power to bring people together and truly change lives, change dialogues when we sit around the table and have really good food. So food is like my primary interest. And I invest in a better for you, clean, like real food. I won't invest in all the things like the artificial ingredients, the chemicals, the artificial preservatives and flavorings and natural flavorings. I'm not interested in those ingredients. I'm looking for really clean food.

5:00Alaina Sparks:So a number of the brands, if I think about, you know, better for you, Daily Crunch, who I know you've had on. Laurel is fantastic. With sprouted nuts and nut mixes, things like that, which are much healthier for our gut. BTR Nation, I know that you've spent some time with Ashley. She's a force in the clean food space. Companies like Spicewell, Rhina is transforming the way that we season our food by adding all kinds of vitamins and minerals to basic things like salt and pepper. um guia right i love natural beverage alternative to alcohol but it doesn't even have to be like an alternative to alcohol it's just like any time during the day drinking a really lovely beverage um with real botanicals and fruit um spring and mulberry i'm a chocolate i'm a crazy crazy obsessed with their chocolate.

6:07I really am.

6:08Alaina Sparks:You and I, you and I, you and I both, um, I avoid sugar. Um, I'm not a fan of sugar. Um, if it's natural and it's minimal, um, that's the best for me. Um, as a health coach, this is the space I'm really, really concerned about given the rise in, in diabetes and metabolic, um, diseases, um, spring and mulberries date sweetened. And it's insane, insanely delicious. I am also very much interested in grains that are not only really nutrient dense, but are really good for our soil. because we get the most nutrient-dense foods from really nutrient-dense soil, right? Some of the crops are sorghum and buckwheat.

6:59Alaina Sparks:So you wouldn't be surprised that I'm an investor in little bucks, buckwheat, regenerative organic buckwheat, and also cob. I know that you've spent time chatting with Jessica. I've been like baking with sorghum flour for 25 years. and really looking at sorghum. Like I was really looking for a founder in sorghum. And luckily I have a friend who was scouting for me and introduced me to Jessica 18 months ago or something. So - That's really cool. Those are some of the brands. But also like when I think about soil, I can't not think about regenerative, right? This is the farming practice where we get the most nutrient dense soil, which also impacts our waterways and wildlife and you name it.

7:49Alaina Sparks:Simply and Westbourne, you know, companies that you might think of when you think of regenerative, simply with grains and beans and oils that are all regenerative. And of course, Camilla Marcus, you know, who's really been such an advocate for regenerative farming and has created this zero product in avocado oil. So those are some of the brands. But I've also expanded. I think you and I may have met when I was talking about like health care. Yes, that's how I actually originally met with you. And that was a bit outside of my zone as well, though we both were connecting of how it's all integrated.

8:34Yes. Right. Because you need the practitioners to help support people making better for you choices.

8:41Alaina Sparks:I'm so glad you said that and use that word like integrated. is one of my, I love the word integrative for a number of reasons. But it's truly the case. Integrative medicine, functional medicine is so important to me. I'm always looking at, I guess, the challenge of, okay, if we've developed all this better for us food, right? who's prescribing it? Like, how does it get to market more quickly? Luckily, consumer education has increased tremendously. I think, you know, 60 to 70 % of consumers now say that they consider health and wellness when they make buying decisions. And we know that's also the case for food.

9:31Alaina Sparks:But boy, doesn't it make a huge difference when you're at the doctor and, And your medical professional is prescribing a better diet. So that's what I was looking for about a year ago and stumbled upon Lyra Health, a company that's launching in about seven to 10 days here. Oh, I didn't realize it was so soon. Yes. Incredible. Okay. So excited. So excited. So these practitioners are really looking at the root cause, right, of why we're not feeling well. many times the root cause is our diet. As a matter of fact, most of the time, you know, the root cause is our diet. And Lira will be doing all the testing and coming up with protocols, recommendations, you know, daily advice, community education, all of it in app, so that we can more easily, you know, make the right choices, which is a big, a big focus for me, right, is it's not just that it's on shelf, if you will, in this case, but what's the ease of making these better decisions.

10:39Alaina Sparks:And so Lyra really caused me to look at the whole portfolio and to look at my scope and say, okay, so beyond food, you know, what are those everyday choices that we make as a consumer that really impact our long-term health, you know, health outcomes? And so I'm looking, you know, beyond food, even at home goods and what we put on our skin, you know, the clothing, like we, we cloak ourselves in polyurethane, but we eat organic regenerative food. There's a little bit of a, there's a little bit of a disconnect there. Right. So I'm looking at other sectors where, you know, the choices that we make are really indicative of our health outcomes.

11:26I love, again, your perspective of this ecosystem that you're building with all of your portfolio brands and how they all support one another in very unique ways, but they all can stand on their own as well. And I think it's really interesting that you were using an ingredient that wasn't commonly found in most products and how that then led to Cobb and your own personal interests and how you've allowed your own curiosity to build your portfolio as well and connecting those dots. I find that so fascinating. So based on your background, when did you start making the shift or evolving your career to start investing?

12:12I also know that you graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition as a certified health coach. That essentially had nothing to do with what you were doing professionally, right? Right. Can you give us a little bit of that background of what you were doing, then becoming a health coach or if that was in tandem to them becoming an investor? Just so, again, people can see how you then create the foundation of what you're doing now.

12:40Alaina Sparks:Sure. Absolutely. So it's interesting. There are, I look at it, I look at this path, right? Founding Furthermore, as, you know, kind of like three defining pillars. Like there were, there were three, there's three kind of levels of inspiration, if you will, or pillars of inspiration. And you're right, my background was not healthcare or health. Um, but I had a very personal, um, health journey like many of us do. And, um, years and years ago I had, you know, what I, what I learned was, you know, serious inflammation in my body that, you know, showed up in a number of different ways, digestive issues.

13:30Alaina Sparks:Um, I would break out. Um, I, um, had rashes, um, incredible, incredibly painful menstrual cycles. I mean, just, um, what I didn't know was inflammation, but it was a lot of discomfort, right. And in some cases pain. And luckily, you know, in my late twenties and in my early thirties, I sought out alternative care to our, our conventional medical system. This is where I learned about root cause medicine. This is where I learned about, you know, not just masking the symptoms because I could have taken Advil, just, you know, Advil, all the prescriptions for acne and all the antacids for digestive, you know, discomfort.

14:17Alaina Sparks:But I was lucky enough to be in a position to learn about functional medicine, more integrative health care. Kelly, it changed my life. You know, it was overnight, really, in one month of changing my diet, the symptoms disappeared. And for me, that was because I had extreme food allergies. I sorry, I had sensitivities. They were not allergies, but they were impactful enough to to have this effect on my life. So everything from gluten to casein, you know, to wheat, to definitely sugar. Like, I had no idea. I have a sweet tooth. And I corrected that. Like, I no longer crave that kind of sugar. And this was, again, 25 years ago or so that this changed my life.

15:14Alaina Sparks:But it was at that point, Kelly, where I learned about gluten-free alternatives. And so when you mentioned sorghum, you know, being in my life for a really long time, right, it was at the natural food store and on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where, you know, luckily, back then you talked, you know, you were talking to people at the stores. And, you know, this man encouraged me like it's not just rice. It's, you know, you can also try sorghum and these other grains like quinoa and amaranth and tough. And this is how I started to cook. And this is how I started to bake. And I, you know, started using natural sugars, natural forms of sugars.

15:55Um, that was a real, a real moment, um, that, you know, has lived with me forever.

16:02Alaina Sparks:Um, and I've always thought, um, someday like I'll incorporate healthcare, like into my professional focus. Um, I was always the person, you know, in my consulting days who had like a bag full of healthy treats, right. It was ingrained in everything I did, but I was like waiting for the moment, right? Where I could now share this with the world in a more meaningful way. So that was, and I should say like that moment happened during COVID. You know, I think we all probably had a reflection moment. Right. And for me, like just a resetting of priorities, right? It was like, why would I wait to do what I've always thought I would do in retirement or someday?

16:56So what were you doing professionally at that point of your career that made you want to take the leap and just reprioritizing what you're going to be doing next?

17:06Alaina Sparks:So I had been in professional services my entire life. I was with Deloitte. I was working with financial institutions as a consultant and a relationship lead. I was kind of owning the relationship with a number of global financial institutions. At one point, I moved to the West Coast and FinTech became my new clients. And I spent a lot of time building the firm's fintech practice as well. And that meant that I went to a bunch of pitch competitions. I was mentoring and advising companies in that space. I was having really an incredible time, right? Because I'm very focused on integration and community and correction is a big theme in my life.

18:09Alaina Sparks:Working in the financial space, I was always, as you can imagine, really focused on financial inclusion. I'm always thinking about the community. And I think that also stems from caring about people from a healthcare perspective, right? I'm also just very interested in how we care for our communities. I was loving my time at Deloitte Kelly. I think it was the opportunity that, I shouldn't say it this way, but it's an unfortunate opportunity that I had during COVID to kind of spend more time outdoors. You know, I took more meetings while walking. And most of COVID was spent in the beautiful county of Sonoma County, where, you know, I'm surrounded by agriculture.

18:58Alaina Sparks:And, you know, there was just kind of a moment of sitting on Zoom for, you know, the umpteenth hour of the day, just thinking, I can make more of a difference. And I knew I could make more of a difference from a health perspective, but I was interested, Kelly, in two other areas that I also became very passionate about. One of them, because I was often spending time with founders, sure, primarily in the fintech space, but I was in the room with investors. And, you know, I became acutely aware of the funding gap, right, the gender gap, really, in funding, right? So to be in a room where especially solely women founders were pitching a room of almost all men, I just thought, okay, I'm going to go do something.

19:59Alaina Sparks:Like, I don't want to miss this healthcare moment because I want to do this, but it has to also incorporate making sure that we're addressing this inequity, right? And for me, the fact, Kelly, that we can't seem to creep past 2 % of all VC funding going to women, as the capital amounts continue to increase, women can't even just get like 3%, 4%. It just doesn't move, right? It is stuck at the ceiling of 2%, which is nauseating. I think it's probably nauseating and shameful for a lot of people to understand this issue. And for me, like, sure, it's an equity problem. We can all understand that. But it's an innovation problem.

20:55Alaina Sparks:I mean, women are so close to the topic of the area where I invest, health, food, all of the segments that have an impact on health. And our ideas aren't funded, right, commensurately. So it's stopping innovation, right? This is a serious issue. It's stopping the solution to healthcare crisis. Like this is very, very serious. So to me, it's not just the numbers, right? It's the fact that we're halting innovation. And third, I would say is that, again, going back to the rooms and oftentimes being the only woman in a room where women were pitching, I thought we've got to bring more women along, right?

21:56Alaina Sparks:So I mentioned, like I organized community of aligned, you know, investors to make investments together through special purpose vehicles. That's what I do. Probably 25 to 30 % of my investors are men. I'm so excited to bring more women along for this journey. There are so many reasons why we don't write checks. And they're real, real challenges, right? We're oftentimes, we lack the financial education, the experience making financial decisions. A lot of times, we're just not in the room, right? We're not in the room when the guys are talking about these really awesome investment opportunities.

22:37Alaina Sparks:We're just, we're not there. We're talking about something else, right? And it's no wonder, like, we're afraid to take the risks and, you know, place a bet in a company, in a founder that we're really, you know, optimistic about. So for me, it's really threefold, right? We have this healthcare problem, right? 50 % of Americans suffer from chronic disease. You probably know this. You know, it's cancer, it's metabolic health, right? It's cardiovascular health. 50 % of us struggle with chronic disease. And we know most of it is diet related, right? And then to this complete inequity and lack of access.

23:25Alaina Sparks:So, you know, I think my career, my long time, 15 plus year career in management consulting gave me this vantage point, right? Gave me the information. And COVID really provided that moment for me to like make the decision. I love how all those dots connected and how you were able to pull in again, your own past personal passion and insight and the power of food with your professional background. And then putting that all together into this furthermore ventures to really then be that change. I just, again admire how you've built this something that we were talking about before I was hit record was that there is this um pulling back the curtain founders are becoming more aware that there's other options now it's not just VC money because again we're still at that two percent yes um there are angel investors there are other ways to build their businesses and I would love to hear from your point of view, based off of all of your personal experience and your incredible portfolio, what are you really looking for in brands?

24:46And what is really catching your attention to make you pause and say, wait, hold on, this is fitting the bill for what I'm building? I would love to hear your point of view on that.

24:59Alaina Sparks:Sure. I think, you know, first, Kelly, it starts with, for me, there has to be a deep, deep personal connection with the problem. For me, it's like it's literacy, right? Someone's able to talk about the problem very clearly when it's personal. And, you know, we can talk about examples of that, right? I mean, too, within my portfolio. Oh, gosh, there are so many. This will be hard for me to narrow. But with BTR, as an example, Ashley created this brand of Better For You snacks, right? Because this is what she was making for her parents, right? Who both struggled and tragically passed away from cancer.

25:56Alaina Sparks:This is super personal to her, right? She is the most tenacious about this problem. She has the most conviction. She is solving this problem. She is educating her community. This is super, super powerful for me. And you spoke with Jessica. It's challenges like these founders see, Jessica's two sons, right, with Cobb, had severe allergies to corn. And Jessica found sorghum, right, as an alternative for them and discovered through farmers markets, right, that people love this popped sorghum. I mean, she will own the sorghum space, Right. She has so much passion and conviction for this this issue.

26:51Right.

26:52Alaina Sparks:So so couple and I could go on and on and on if we have more time. But you understand it's it's very personal. It's it's not dissimilar to when I say, you know, I'm looking for a digital health, you know, a root root cause based digital health. It's because of my own problem. Right. This is how we're wired. And so that's number one. Number two, familiarity, either familiarity with the space, like you grew up in this system, right? You understand the system. Or an extreme problem solver. Like maybe you didn't grow up in the system, but you're a systems thinker. You are a tremendous proven problem solver.

27:36Alaina Sparks:And you're going to be able to get out of the 17 ,000 million crises that are going to come to you like constantly. It's a barrage, right? It's tremendous highs and lows every day. Yes. And so, you know, for me, that's like knowing that you will be prepared for a recall. Right. It happens all the time. And you'll be prepared for a shipment of product that goes missing. um also I love the perspective of um like if you come from outside industry which is sometimes like what I'm I'm really interested in is you are more um curious yes right you're you ask like the dumb questions. Yes. I put that in quotes.

28:37Alaina Sparks:They're not dumb at all. They're like the smartest question in the room because you don't really know. Like maybe you don't really understand how the system works, but you come from systems thinking and you are here to challenge the status quo. We don't have to build the way it's always been built. As a matter of fact, like give me the founders who are building differently, right? Because I'm looking for different outcomes. I'm looking for founders who have workarounds to the very extractive systems that we live in whether it's health care. I love that you said that I really do because I think the curiosity is such an underrated skill set and I could say I built my whole career being curious I've been freelance I've worked for myself for 16 years so I've always just built my business from asking question.